Idaho House Hunting Tips
Starting With Your Thought Out Budget
Before we share our Idaho house hunting tips - it's equally important to have your pre-approval letter from your lender. Coupled with knowing what monthly payment will be can make for a comfortable search process. Now, it's time to begin searching homes for sale that fit your budget, however you shouldn't automatically spend the maximum allowed. As a matter of fact, you can consider going slightly above your elected home price range as long as your monthly payment is still affordable or if you have extra cash to make up the difference, with a bigger down payment.
Finding the Right Neighborhood for You and Your Family
After you've figured out your price range, you can begin to narrow your home search by neighborhood. First look at neighborhoods with an adequate commute to work. Second, think about the type of location you want to live in. Would you prefer a more urban city feel, maybe a suburban track home or possibly a rural area with less neighbors. Do you want to be near outdoor recreational activities, shops, stores and restaurants? Is nightlife a priority to you? Or an area with plenty of activities for the children with good schools.
Whether a home is a single-family residence, townhome or condo, many properties are part of a homeowner association 'HOA'. Likewise, you should consider whether you want to live in an HOA community or not. Of course a positive of HOA rules can be that they help protect your homes value. Generally speaking, dues usually include the communities amenities and some outside maintenance. Consequently, those same rules can also restrict what you can do with the exterior of your home as well. Dues are often collected monthly, quarterly, or annually and it's important not forget these dues in your housing budget.
For the most part, condominium 'Condo' homes will also have association dues and will offer a slightly different style of home-ownership. As a result the association will own the exterior of your property with you owning the interior portions. These HOA dues will also be part of your housing budget. On the positive side some of your homeowner's insurance and other costs will be included. Your community amenities such as swimming pools or fitness centers may also be included in the HOA.
Idaho House Hunting Tips - Consider Sampling the Area.
Try viewing communities at different times of the day, night and on weekends and weekdays. See what your future commute to work will be like. Not to mention you can get a feel for who lives there and what the activity level is like. Do your due-diligence before committing to purchasing your home in a particular area.
Other Factors You May Want to Consider
Crime and schools are two important factors to consider in a neighborhood as they impact how well your home will maintain it's value. With Fair Housing laws preventing Realtor's from informing clients about crime statistics or talking about 'good' or 'bad' schools, we can direct you to websites that provide information about these topics. If you don't currently have children or never plan to have them, purchasing your home in a well-regarded school district can still help keep your home's long-term value up.
Time to Start Searching!
Home buyers these days usually start searching for a home online on websites, but you can ask your Realtor to help you find homes for sale. We can provide you with a list of homes that meet your priorities and send email alerts that notify you right away, when a home that fits your list of needs comes on the market
First, evaluate homes first by looking at photos and it's written description. Many property listings online have videos or virtual tours that can offer more views of the home. Second, unless you're looking at homes on your Realtor's website, verify a homes availability, price, description and photos with your Realtor. Not only ... but also websites like Zillow and Trulia may offer a better online user experience at the same time they are notorious for incorrect information, invalid listings and extremely over or under estimates of value!
The next step in your house hunt is narrowing down your priorities to find the home that meets your needs.
You should look at new home builds as well as existing homes. New homes are sometimes more expensive than existing homes, but they require less up front maintenance and can often have lower utility bills due to having more energy-efficient features.
Planning on Attending an Open House this Weekend??
Get your free list of all homes having an Open House this weekend in the entire Treasure Valley area! Including photos, times, dates and full details!
